RTPO Surface Transportation Block Grant

House Bill 23 of the 135th Ohio General Assembly allocated $3,000,000 in each fiscal year transportation budget (FY2026 and FY2027) to be used by Regional Transportation Planning Organizations (RTPOs) to conduct a rural transportation planning grant program, and OVRDC created the Surface Transportation Block Grant (STBG) program. The STBG program awards up to $500,000 for two projects. In addition, $200,000 is available from each year’s allocation for one engineering project. The STBG program compliments the Transportation Related Study/Planning program and often projects begin there, before applying for funding through the STBG program.

STBG Program Highlights

Any phase of construction is eligible.
Project must be located in one of our RTPO member counties which include: Adams, Brown, Fayette, Gallia, Highland, Jackson, rural portion of Lawrence (not covered by KYOVA), Pike, Ross, Scioto, and Vinton.
Project must be listed in the OVRDC 2045 Comprehensive Transportation Plan (Appendix B). If you have a project that is not included in the plan, please contact jtaylor@ovrdc.org to discuss getting the project added in future updates.
Funding will be on a re-imbursement basis.
10% local match will be required.
Maximum award amount is $200,000 for preliminary engineering and $500,000 for other phases of construction.
Please make sure the engineer’s estimate accounts for inflation.
Please be aware…this funding will come through ODOT and will need to go through the Let process. This can potentially add cost to your project, so make sure you are familiar with this process.
More information on the Let process is available here.